XAI has been slow to pay MLGW
Memphis Light, Gas and Water has sent Elon Musk’s xAI several cutoff notices for its supercomputer but never shut off power. Musk arrives before the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP)
The artificial intelligence startup xAI has, at times, been slow to pay its electric bills, according to copies of the company’s bills obtained by The Daily Memphian.
Memphis Light, Gas and Water has sent xAI several cutoff notices for its Southwest Memphis supercomputer but has never shut off the facility’s power. At points in August and November, the company owed MLGW more than $400,000 in back payments for the power it consumes.
The late payments, late fees and cutoff notices detail part of the complex relationship the Elon Musk-founded artificial intelligence startup has had with local governments and utilities.
The company and MLGW have partnered on building a new substation to serve the supercomputer and could partner on building a second.
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Samuel Hardiman
Samuel Hardiman is an enterprise and investigative reporter who focuses on local government and politics. He began his journalism career at the Tulsa World in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he covered business and, later, K-12 education. Hardiman came to Memphis in 2018 to join the Memphis Business Journal, covering government and economic development. He then served as the Memphis Commercial Appeal’s city hall reporter and later joined The Daily Memphian in 2023. His current work focuses on Elon Musk’s xAI, regional energy needs and how Memphis and Shelby County government spend taxpayer dollars.
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